User:Kirk202/User Guide - Communications

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User Guide - Communications

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Fedora can be used to send electronic mail and communicate in real time with people around the world. In GNOME, Evolution is used to send electronic mail (email), and Pidgin (previously Gaim) is used to send instant messages (IMs) by default.

Evolution can also be used as a personal information manager, or PIM. You can maintain a calendar, manage a list of tasks, and keep an address book of contacts, among other things, using Evolution.

Pidgin is an instant messaging client that can access Gmail, MSN, AOL, Yahoo!, Jabber, and other IM and chat networks.

In KDE, Kmail is used to send email. While Kmail does not include calendaring functionality, a calendar application called KOrganizer is included in KDE as part of the KDE PIM suite. There is also an application called Kontact which groups KMail, Korganizer and other KDE PIM tools into a single interface (comparable with GNOME's Evolution).

Fedora does not register accountsPidgin requires an existing account on some of the IM networks, created via the normal account creation process. For example, Pidgin cannot be used to create a Yahoo Instant Messenger account. Instead, visit http://messenger.yahoo.com to set up the account, then access it using Pidgin. This is true for most types of instant messaging, although some protocols - like Bonjour, IRC, or SILC - do not require accounts at all, and Fedora can setup accounts for some types of IM networks.
Contents

Image:Docs_Drafts_DesktopUserGuide_Communications_redhat-email.png This is the default icon associated with Evolution.

* Running the software for the first time displays the Evolution Setup Assistant wizard. Answer these questions using information provided by the ISP or e-mail provider.
* The Identity screen relates to personal information about the account, including Name, Organisation and Address. There is also a Reply-To field, which will allow you to specify that recipients of mail from this account reply to a different address.
* The Receiving Email and Sending Email screens both require information from the e-mail provider.
* To add a new account in the future, or to modify an existing account, launch the preferences dialog from the Edit > Preferences menu entry. In the dialog that appears, press the [Add] button to launch the Evolution Account Assistant again.

Using Evolution

Evolution allows you to create, store and send email by clicking the appropriate buttons located on the menu.
Button How the button functions
Send/Receive This will allow Evolution to send and receive all email.
New Open a new email message dialog box.
Reply Reply to the person who has sent you an email.
Reply to All Replace to everyone who was included in the email that you have received.
Forward Forward the email message to another person.
Print Print the email.
Delete Delete the email.
Junk Mark the email as junk.
Not Junk If you accidentally set the email as Junk, pushing this button removes the Junk tag.
Cancel Cancel whatever you are doing.
Previous Move to the previous email in your folder.
Next Move to the next email in your folder.
Kmail

Kmail is the standard email client used in KDE it is installed by default from the live-cd and is also included in the DVD. Loading Kmail in KDE is done by clicking on Kmenu > Applications > Internet > Mail Client menu entry or alternatively Applications > Internet > Kmail in GNOME.
Image:Docs_Drafts_DesktopUserGuide_Communications_kmail.png This is the default icon associated with Kmail.
Configuring Kmail

* Running the software for the first time displays the main Kmail page with links to appropriate help locations.
* To configure your account you will need your email information from your internet service provider or your e-mail provider.
* Setting up your account requires you to open the Configure Kmail dialog box from the Settings > Configure Kmail menu entry.
* Selecting Accounts and pressing the [Add] button will launch a dialog that will ask you for the type of account you wish to configure.
* After selecting the appropriate account type you will be greeted with a dialog that shows the different settings available for your account. Add your personal email configuration information to Account Name, Login, Password, Host. The other default settings could be left alone.

To add a new account in the future, or to modify an existing account, launch the configure Kmail from the Settings > Configure Kmail menu entry. In the dialog that appears, select Accounts press the [Add] button to launch the Kmail Account Assistant again.
Using Kmail

Kmail allows you to create, store and send email by clicking the appropriate buttons located on the menu.
Button How the button functions
New Message Open a new email message dialog box.
Save as Save the email.
Print Print the email.
Check Mail in Sends the email.
Reply Replace to the email.
Forward Forward the email message to another person.
Previous Move to the previous unread email in your folder.
Next Move to the next unread email in your folder.
Trash Delete the email.
Find Message Search for a specific email.
Create Task Creates a new task in KOrganizer.
Additional Options
Kmail has additional options with the green arrow pointing down. While not covered specifically in this topic clicking the button and holding it down for a few seconds will show additional options.
Pidgin
Configuring Pidgin

This section is specific for Pidgin in Fedora. For further information and documentation on Pidgin, refer to:

To start and configure Pidgin, select Applications > Internet > Internet Messenger from the menu panel in GNOME or KMenu > Applications > Internet > Pidgin in KDE.
Image:Pidgin_logo.png This is the default icon associated with Pidgin.
The Add Account dialog in Pidgin.
The Add Account dialog in Pidgin.

Starting Pidgin for the first time goes directly into the Accounts dialog. To configure a new account follow these steps:

* Click on the [Add] button to bring up the Add Account dialog.
* In the Add Account window, under Login Options, click on the right side of the Protocol dropdown menu to show the available protocols and select the network appropriate for the account being created.
* Enter details for the selected account, including Screen name, Password, and Alias. Select Remember password if desired. Click on the [Save] button to add the account to the account list.
* Once the account is added, the Accounts window displays the new account.
* New accounts can be added in the future by navigating to the Accounts > Add/Edit menu entry in the main Pidgin window.

Using Pidgin

Select one of the enabled accounts to see the Buddy List window. In this window, menus allow the user to add additional IM contacts.

All 16 supported protocols are available at the same time within Pidgin. In other words, if you have setup multiple accounts with in Pidgin - one each of Yahoo, Google Talk, and AIM accounts, for example - all of your contacts for each of these accounts will be available to chat with at the same time, in the same contact list.

For more information on using Pidgin see:

http://developer.pidgin.im/wiki/Using%20Pidgin
Not all features supported
Pidgin does not support features of all included protocols. Pidgin is useful for chatting via text across 16 different IM protocols, but not all the features in each IM system are supported. For example, video is not supported at this time.
Kopete

Kopete is the Internet Messenger that is installed in KDE by default.

In KDE Kopete can be found in Kmenu > Applications > Internet > Instant Messenger

In GNOME Kopete can be found in Applications > Internet > Kopete
Image:Docs_Drafts_DesktopUserGuide_Communications_kopete.png This is the default icon associated with Kopete.
Configuring Kopete

This section is specific for Kopete in Fedora. For further information and documentation on Kopete, refer to:

To start and configure Kopete, select Applications > Internet > Kopete from the menu panel in GNOME or KMenu > Applications > Internet > Kopete in KDE. Starting Kopete for the first time goes directly into the creating accounts dialog. To configure a new account follow these steps:

* Click the selected messaging service you desire.
* In the Account Information window, enter your details that you are using to connect to the services.
* Make sure to fill out the details on the other tabs.
* Once the account is added, click [Next] ' you should have an option to connect to the service tick then then click [Finish] .
* New accounts can be added in the future by navigating to the Settings > Configure > menu entry in the main Kopete window then clicking the [Accounts] button after it has loaded.

Kopete comes with a wide range of messaging services some examples are:

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